Placebos, neuropathic pain and gender

introduction: the placebos' analgesic effect seems to depend on different factors such as socio-cultural, psychological and genetic aspects. the effects of gender on placebos' analgesic response have rarely been documented in clinical studies, even though there have been some reports in experimental studies. objetive: study the analgesic effect of anticonvulsant and antidepressive drugs in adults suffering from painful diabetic neuropathy and its relationship with gender material and methods: a search and systematic selection was made of all clinical trials for analgesic treatment of diabetic neuropathy with anticonvulsant and antidepressive drugs published between january 2000 and february 2011. randomized, placebo-compared clinical trials were included which had studied the analgesic effect of anticonvulsant and antidepressive drugs in adults suffering from painful diabetic neuropathy, evaluated in such a way that improvement in pain could be objectively classified. the following information was obtained from each article: criteria for diagnosing diabetic neuropathy, medicaments received and improvement of pain in the group being treated and in the placebo group according to patient gender. results: 12 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were found which analyzed latest generation anticonvulsant and antidepressive agents used in managing pain in diabetic neuropathy. only one study included gender-discriminated results regarding controlling pain in the placebo group. conclusion: the foregoing easily justifies the need for and importance of studying the relationship between gender and placebo response. this association has not been suitably reported to date, except by very few studies.